Tag Archives: Coffin Races

The iconic FDGD appeared at the traffic circle again, and I thought “is it time again already?” This weekend harkens the 17th annual Frozen Dead Guy Days festival in Nederland, when around 20,000 people from far and wide will descend on our tiny town in the foothills.

For small mountain towns that are not home to celebrities, they depend on festivals like this to survive the winter/spring months until the bulk of tourists come in the summer and fall. March can be a difficult time of year for Nederland, in that the ski season is winding down at Eldora, and yet it’s too early for warm weather recreation.

Enter, Frozen Dead Guy Days. Someone (who??) had the brilliant idea to build off of an old guy being cryogenically frozen in a Tuff Shed and created Nederland’s claim to fame — Dead Guy Days. And entire weekend festival filled with whacky events centered around the “frozen” theme. Frozen Turkey Bowling, the Hearse Parade, the Polar Plunge.

My personal favorite is the Coffin Races. What could be more nutty than watching costumed teams of people carting around a person in a coffin through a snowy obstacle course? And then having the joy of pelting said teams with snowballs as they cross the finish line.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has not been cooperating with Frozen Dead Guy Days. When it was first launched, the second weekend in March seemed like the ideal team to hold a “frozen” festival. The month of March is considered one of the snowiest months on the Front Range after all. In only its second year, 2003, a massive snowstorm hit Nederland, dropping over 5 feet of snow. Perfect!

We first attended FDGD several years ago, when it snowed so much, it literally snowed out the Coffin Races, forcing them to be held on Sunday because the snow closed Boulder Canyon. I still remember standing on the hillside on a brisk, clear sunny day with over a foot of fresh snow, cheering the Muppet Team as they slipped and slid around the Coffin Race obstacle course.

But the last few Marches have brought temperatures more reminiscent of summer rather than snow and ice. And somehow Frozen Dead Guy Days just doesn’t seem to carry the same panache when it’s 60 degrees without a lick of snow on the ground. Frozen turkey bowling just isn’t the same when the turkey thaws forcing participants to hurl it overhand at the pins, rather than rolling it along the snow and ice. They’ve taken to importing snow for the coffin races, due to the lack of white stuff.

Nevertheless, I’m happy for the local businesses. Nederland winters can be tough for the restaurants and shops, since most of the Eldora skiers don’t stop on their way back from the slopes. The festival gives them a huge revenue boost when they are needing it the most.

If you come to visit our fair town this weekend, please be considerate. Drink the beer, but throw your cups and trash away. Have fun, but don’t trash our town. And really, really, consider taking the bus. Boulder Canyon is not the place to test your driving skills after downing a few.

Yep, it’s that time of year again. The time of year when the tiny town of Nederland reaches its apex of fame and notoriety by holding one of the weirdest and wackiest festivals anywhere. The first clue to the nuttiness soon to descend on our mountain town was the telltale FDGD in the middle of the rotary in town. This afternoon, signs started popping up, “Beer, this way!” with a large arrow. There are also posted A-frame signs all along Highway 119 from Boulder. It’s the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days!

Back in 2002 when March used to be one of the colder and snowier months of winter, it probably seemed like a great idea to host the festival as a farewell to winter. But the last few years, March has seemed more like June with temperatures reaching near 60, and it appears this year will be no different. Unfortunately, the signature events that make FDGD truly hilarious are not near as much fun played on the barren dirt and dry streets of Nederland. I’m talking about events such as Frozen Turkey bowling, where players hurl a frozen turkey down an icy street towards bowling pins. Last year, the bird simply stopped short on the dry and dusty street, so participants had to resort to hurling it overhand at the pins.

And my favorite, the Coffin Races, lose a lot of their hilarity when racing around on the dry ground. Fortunately for me, the very first year we attended them, a huge snowstorm dropped over a foot of snow on Nederland. In fact, there was so much snow on Saturday when they usually stage the race, they postponed them to Sunday, so more people would be able to attend. I still remember standing on the hillside watching people dressed in muppet costumes carting a small woman in a coffin through the snowy obstacle course, only to be greeted by a hail of snowballs at the finish. This is the stuff that Frozen Dead Guy Days is all about!

But as I’ve so quickly found out living here in Colorado, you definitely can’t change the weather. So I have learned to embrace the ups and downs, the summer-like temperature during what should be winter, and the winter-like snowstorms well into May. Good thing that old Grandpa Bredo has a special caretaker to pack him in dry ice, because otherwise, that body would be thawing quickly for this weekend’s festival.

Still, even with the balmy temperatures, it’s a great time for our town. It brings publicity, if only due to its unique theme, as well as over 20,000 people spending copious amounts of money on beer, food and other items. After six years of living in Nederland, whenever I meet someone from out of town and tell them I live in Nederland, I’m usually greeted perkily with, “Oh, that’s where the frozen dead guy is!”